INTKODUCTION. 



few and dwarfish, and, as we 

 advance towards the poles, fi- 

 nally disappear. But mosses, 

 lichens, ferns, creeping plants, 

 and some berry-bearing shrubs, 

 tlu'ive during the short sum- 

 mer. 



4. Vegetation of the Tempe- 

 rate Zones. In the high lati- 

 tudes are the pine and the fir, 

 which retain their verdure dur- 

 ing the rigors of winter. To 

 these, on approaching the equa- 

 tor, succeed the oak, elm, 

 beech, lime, and other forest 

 trees. Several fruit-trees, among which are the apple, the pear, the cherry, and the plum, grow 

 better in the higher latitudes ; while to the regions nearer the tropics belong the olive, lemon, 

 orange, and fig, the cedar, cypress, and cork-tree. 



Between 30° and 50° is the country of the vine and the mulberry ; wheat grows in 60^, and 

 oats and barley a few degrees further. Maize and rice are the grains more commonly cultivated 

 in lower latitudes. 



5. Vegetation of the Torrid Zone. The vegetation of the torrid zone, where nature sup- 

 plies most abundantly moisture and heat, is the most remarkable for its luxuriance and the variety 

 of its species. The most juicy fruits and the most powerful aromatics, the most magnificent 

 and gigantic productions of the vegetable creation, are found in the intertropical regions. There 

 the earth yields the sugar-cane, the cofl'ee-tree, the palm, the bread-tree, the immense baobab, 

 the date, the cocoa, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the pepper, the camphor-tree, &c., with so 

 many dye-woods and medicinal plants. At different elevations of soil, the torrid zone exhibits, 

 in addition to its peculiar forms, all the productions of the other regions of the earth. 



6. - Vegetation of JVorthern Hemisphere. The northern hemisphere, with which we are best 

 acquainted, is divided by Humboldt into 6 bands, as follows : 1st band has a mean temperature 

 above 77° Fahr. and may be considered the natural region of palms, the banana, and the coffee- 

 tree. It extends northward in the old continent to 32° N. lat., and in the new to 23° 30'. 

 2d band, with a mean temperatm'e ranging between 77° and 68°, is the proper region of the 

 citron and its varieties. In the old continent it reaches to 37° or 38° N. lat. ; in the new to 

 29°. 3d band, with a mean temperature from 68° to 59°, is the true region of the olive and 

 the vine, extending to 43° 30' in the old world, and in eastern Asia and the new, to 32° or 

 33°. 4th band, with a mean temperature from 59° to 50°, produces the vine, and in perfec- 

 tion the oak and wheat. In Europe it extends to 52° 25', in America and eastern Asia to 40° 

 N. lat. 5th band, with a mean temperature from 50° to 41°, is the region of the various cer- 

 ealia, and of forests of Quercus robur. In Europe it extends to 60° N. lat., in America to 

 about 50°. 6th band, with a mean temperature from 41° to 32°, is the native region of the 

 pine, the birch, and the willow, in its lowest parallels, and of Alpine plants, hchens, and byssi, 

 in the higher ; it reaches to the limits of perpetual frost, extending, in Europe, to 71° N. lat., 

 in Asia, to the Arctic circle, and, in eastern America, to about 60°. 



IX. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 



1. Animals. The animal kingdom presents a vast and varied field, at which we can only 

 cast a glance. Every department of nature, the earth, an-, and sea, is full of animated beings : 

 some of them seem nearly aUied to vegetables and minerals. From these, we may ascend in 

 the scale, through an almost infinite series of existences, up to man, who constitutes the highest 

 in the animal kingdom. Among the most remarkable animals, we may mention the coral in- 

 sects which are chiefly found in the equatorial regions. These creatures, so minute as scarcely 

 to be perceived by the naked eye, exist in the sea, in such inconceivable numbers, a.id labor 

 with such activity, as to construct vast beds of coral, which at length raise their tops above the 

 vi^ater : thus immense islands are gradually built in the bosom of the ocean, bv insig^nficant 

 Insects. 



